The corruption trial of former Cuyahoga County commissioner Jimmy Dimora hasn’t gotten much mention outside of Ohio. But the subject of the trial in Akron does have a connection to the economic transformation of the Midwest.
Dimora was at the center of a number of construction projects in the Cleveland area. Those projects were sold as ways to help boost the local economy. Taxpayers invested tens of millions of dollars, but prosecutors allege the only ones who benefited in the end were Dimora and his friends.
WOIO TV
A puppet version of businessman Ferris Kleem pauses momentarily with his money, shortly before using that money to pay for a prostitute to visit former Cuyahoga County commissioner Jimmy Dimora in Las Vegas.
But this is all prologue to the real reason for mentioning the Dimora trial. One of the news organizations covering the trial. Cleveland’s WOIO-TV (19 Action News!) was not allowed to bring its cameras in to film the trial.
So the news team there made a courageous decision: they are re-enacting trial testimony with … puppets.
We’ve talked before about people having to resort to Plan B. But this is something else entirely.